Drop off your drugs

Genaia Darragh, district manager of Shoppers Drug Mart; Colin Carrie, MP for Oshawa; Micah Wagenberg of Durham police; Kathy Henry the owner of Shoppers Drug Mart at 300 Taunton Rd; and Kim Finely, manager of the same store, take part in National Prescription Drug Drop-Off Day.

As part of the National Prescription Drug Drop-Off Day, Oshawa residents got educated on the growing problem of prescription drug misuse and abuse.

On May 9, Colin Carrie, member of parliament for Oshawa and parliamentary secretary to the Minister of the Environment, together with representatives from the Durham Regional Police Service and Shoppers Drug Mart took part and encouraged residents to drop off their expired prescription drugs.

“Prescription drugs are there to help people when they need them, but when used in the wrong way or for the wrong reasons, they can cause serious harm, including death. The Government of Canada is calling on Canadians to do their part to help, by returning unused or unwanted prescription drugs,” stated Colin Carrie in a news release.

National Prescription Drug Drop-Off Day gives Canadians an opportunity to drop off their unused and expired prescription medication the right way – by giving it to local police and community partners at specific locations to be disposed of safely.

Unused prescription drugs can also be returned to local pharmacies for disposal all throughout the year.

The goal through this initiative is to lessen the amount of prescription drugs available for misuse as well as keep the public informed of dangerous affects of prescription drug abuse.

National Prescription Drug Drop-Off Day is part of the government’s National Anti-Drug strategy that focuses on prevention and providing access to treatment for individuals with drug dependency as well as getting tough on drug dealers and producers.

The government is investing $13.5 million over five years to create greater access to addictions support, prevention and treatment capacity for prescription drug abuse for First Nations people living on-reserve across the country. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has also developed a national research network to improve the health of Canadians living with substance abuse.

According to the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, participating agencies recovered over 1.5 tons of prescription drugs in the 2014 Drop-Off Day.

For more information on the National Anti-Drug Strategy, visit canada.ca/drugprevention.